


By Any Other Name

by wanderingstoryteller



Category: Zombies Run!
Genre: F/F, Female Runner Five, Lesbian Runner Five
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-05-28 08:06:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19389985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wanderingstoryteller/pseuds/wanderingstoryteller
Summary: Runner Five seeks comfort and company from several of the women of Able Township and New Canton.





	By Any Other Name

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers all the way through season 7

Runner Five had a name once, a proper name, not just a number that had belonged to so many dead runners before her. She doubted there was anyone left alive who knew it anymore, sometimes she barely remembered it herself. That was probably for the best really, the woman she was before would have never survived a zombie apocalypse. She had lacked the hardness of heart to do what had to be done, the strength to keep going after so much loss, the strange desperate determination that kept her in motion. 

Runner Five was never even much of a runner in her old life. The farthest she had run was only a half marathon and that was only once. Usually she just managed to short runs once a week and that was about it, a way to stay fit enough without too much effort.

Now running was her life. It wore her lean as a whippet. If she had an ounce of vanity left, she would have been proud of her body, lean and muscled like a professional athlete, it was certainly not one she could have ever had when she worked a desk job.

She lost hope during that first dark year when everything ended and then she found it again when she came to Able. She’d thought that all the laughter and warmth was gone from the world and then she met Sam, Maxine, Janine and all the others at Able Township. She realized that there were still people out there who gave a damn, who were trying to rebuild all that was lost. They made her want to have a place in the world again, to be human no matter how much that hurt. 

She’d never been particularly promiscuous before the end of the old world but she hadn’t faced down death every day either. When every mission might be the last, she found she had a desperate need to seize every moment of life and human connection possible. Horace wrote of “Carpe diem,” perhaps he would have been wiser to say “carpe mulier.”

  


It still surprised her when Maxine invited her into her bed. She hadn’t touched another human being in so long that she thought she might have forgotten how. Maxine reminded her with gentle patient hands.

Maxine never lied, never tried to hide the deep grief she carried for the loss of her partner Paula. They never pretend that what they had was anything more than a bit of company, a mutual easing of loneliness. 

Whatever was between them ended as soon as Maxine realize that Paula was still alive, even if she was working for Van Ark. Maxine had hope again and she hugged that more tightly to herself than she ever did Runner Five. 

In a way, Five was almost relieved. She cared for Maxine, but the doctor’s grief had run so deeply it had seemed enough to drag them both down. To see the dark eyed woman smile again, smile as she never could have made her, that was a wonderful thing. 

Sara Smith, Runner Eight, didn’t waste any time. Five was never quite certain if Sara was waiting for Maxine to finish with her or just took longer to decide if she could trust her. She was very good with her fingers, if always a bit rough and hurried.

She loved to fuck after runs when they were both still breathless and sweaty. Her favorite thing as to shove Five up against the wall of the shower block before they got clean and then sometimes again afterwards for good measure. 

Runner Five wasn’t sure they ever had sex lying down, not even once. It was always up against something, quick and passionate against something and then done. Sarah wasn’t the cuddling type, at least not with Five. Runner Five still grieved for her when she thought she died and felt a weight lift from her heart when she found out otherwise.

Janine was more discreet, although just as frantic in her need. The day she accidently caught the two runners in the shower, she called Five to her office. It took only a few words to lead to a hungry kiss. For a woman who so valued control, she did not seem to care about all her papers ending up on the floor when she and Five found themselves on her desk. 

Five would have never thought her a cuddler but she was, at least for the few minutes the head of Able allowed herself remain still after they finished. Each time, Janine would curl against her, head resting on her chest so she could listen to the steady beating of the runner’s strong heart, then she was always back up on her feet, dressing, returning to her endless worrying, the weight of Able and everyone within it back upon her capable shoulders. 

It was about once a week at first and then a bit less often as life got in the way. Sooner or laterJanine would ask her back to her office again, she needed release to much to deny herself. 

Major de Santa was almost traditional in her approach. She actually asked Five back to her room for a drink. All she had was cheap whiskey but somehow she’d actually managed to find two real glasses. They drank and talked for a bit until the glasses were empty and then she took both of delicate cups and set them safely on the bedside table. 

She was gentle in her first touches and then more and more forceful, carefully testing boundaries, seeking permission and then not hesitating once she had it. Before the night was through she had Five face down on the bed, screaming her name and clawing the sheets as she fucked her with three fingers from behind. They only fucked a few times but Runer Five could never taste whiskey without thinking of her. 

Zoe Crick was always a delight, easy smiles and kindness. Five went to bed with her on a warm spring night. Someone in New Canton had been successful in an attempt to brew hard cider, the problem was there was no way to bottle or really keep it, so half the fort got drunk on lukewarm cider one night while someone else played fiddle more or less passably. 

Five danced with Zoe and the pretty blonde’s smiles got more flirtatious than just friendly. After three dances, Zoe whispered in her ear that she should take her to bed. Well, not bed actually, Zoe bunked in a room with about seven other people. For the sake of a scrap of privacy they lay down a blanket on the floor of the empty Radio New Tomorrow Studio.

Zoe had as much talent when she puts her tongue to other uses as she did when she spoke on the radio. The morning found them still tangled together in a blanket on the floor. Unfortunately, the morning also brought a groggy Phil Cheeseman, who managed to make a startled gasp, drop his coffee cup, and flee. Zoe got a good laugh out of it at least. 

They had sex a few more times and then Zoe went away. They picked things up again when she came back from the island. It was never serious though, always a thing of touch more than words. Runner Five never even knew that Zoe had depression until she talked about it on a run. In the end their friendship deepened by nothing else.

Louise Bailey was far too charming for her own good, all flirtatious grins and sly looks. Runner Five would never admit it but she really missed being pursued and actually properly seduced. Louise also looked very good in a tuxedo, even after running in the damn thing during that odd mission. They didn’t fuck that time though. 

It was a few days later, after a much less remarkable run they end up kissing against the wall of a shed and then fucking inside of the same shed. It was certainly not the last time they had a randevou there. Somewhat remarkably, all things considered, Louise had managed to find a strap on somewhere in the apocalypse and they put that to very good use. The ex-con certainly knows how to use it, whether she had Five under her, over her, on her hands and knees or even standing. 

Things burned out quickly though. Louise got distracted by another pretty face and wandered off to be charming to another woman. Runner Five never mistook her for a creature of fidelity or constancy and so took no offense. 

Amelia Spens was probably a bad idea. She flirted with Five from nearly the first time she met her but Five never took it seriously until after Finland. She still didn’t trust Amelia not to double cross her, she just figured she would find a better time to do it than in bed. 

Amelia always made a show of being all surface level. She was silky hair and softly perfumed skin, ruby red lips and a crocodile smile. Beneath it though, she cares about others, cares nearly as much as Janine or Maxine, although she fights it while they lean into it. She certainly cared about helping the babies that Sigrid used her for her horrible purpose. She boasted and boated about being heartless, but she kept helping Able. 

She actually seemed a bit surprised when one day Five flirted back. She made sure it say that it was just sex, that it would mean nothing. She made that very clear before they tumbled onto her silk sheets. 

If there has ever been a woman who loved material things it was Amelia. She had managed to collect a nice assortment of toys. She had one of the first vibrators that Five had seen in a long time and even the batteries to power it. She had other toys and not just real lube but rose scented lube. To sleep with Amelia was to step into a world full of exquisite things, her beautiful body among them.

Of course, Amelia always kicked her out when they were done. She never slept the night with anyone. Except when Amelia took up with Zoe, all of that changed. Runner Five was never certain what exactly passed between the sweet natured radio DJ and the calculating head of New Canton but it seemed good for both of them. They also both lost interest in Runner Five after that. Five she carried on and tried not to mind. 

Runner Five was more than a bit surprised when Maxine and Paula invited her into their bed. It was during the brief period of peace after Sigrid’s government had fallen. For a time life seemed manageable, almost safe in a way. 

Five was confused at first when Maxine began to flirt with her one night after dinner when about half the fort was sitting outside to enjoy the warm summer air. She was more confused when Paula sat on her other side and did the same. 

It didn’t take long to pick up the general gist of things, especially when Maxine made it clear that it was the couples date night, Sam had baby Sarah for the night and the couple actually had their own room with a door that even closed properly. 

She had actually been in a threesome or two before in her life. She’d just never particularly expected Maxine to invite her to one. Maxine had been a good lover though and she was certainly attracted to Paula, so she agreed. She wondered as she followed the smiling and slightly drunk couple back to their room if this would in any way affect her friendship with them. Then again she’d slept with Maxine before and that had not changed things. 

As threesomes go, it was a good thing. Maxine and Paula were both old enough to be past the point of shyness that so often plagues the young and with the way they both began to touch Five, it quickly became clear that this was not their first threesome either. 

After the initial chaos of kisses and touches, Five ended up on her back while Maxine went down on her and Paula fucked Maxine with her fingers from behind. Through the evening they rearranged a few times until they were sated and collapsed on the sweaty sheets. Up until then, it had all just been sex. 

Five was content and calm the way she always was after sex, for a few wonderful moments she hadn’t felt alone. Except that feeling didn’t last. Maxine curled up against Paula and her wife pulled her close, trailing a hand through her curly dark hair. Maxine smiled up at her, eyes warm and soft. The world is full of so many things that are not love, that are less than love, but love, real love, is unmistakable. 

Lying on Paula’s other side, Runner Five felt like the little match girl from the book of Hans Christian Andersen her mother used to read to her when she was little. Seeing the raw warmth between her two friends made her shiver in spite of the heat of the room. 

Paula glanced at her and offered a kind smile. “You alright Five?”

Runner Five nodded because she couldn’t seem to find words. She waited until the other two had drifted off and then gathered her clothes and slipped from the room. She laid with them a few more times when they asked. While they were touching her loneliness eased but every time she found herself alone again it grew to deeper until it as too much to bear. It was one thing to live her life in the cold but it was unbearable to step back into the nights chill after knowing a hearths warmth. For her own sake, the next time they asked she shook her head and politely declined. 

Something changed inside of her, though she couldn’t say exactly what. She finally knew what she wanted, what she needed. She wasn’t sure exactly what sort of woman she was looking for or if she would know her if she found her. What she was certain of was that if she ever found the love she sought she would finally again be able to speak her own name again, her true name, even if it was only whispered in the dead of night. Until then, she was and would remain Runner Five.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a huge fan of Zombies Run! but the nature of the app makes it very challenging to write fanfic for. Runner Five is designed to be the runner using the app, so he/she is without a name, face, gender, voice, build, skin color, or nationality. I took the liberty of writing a gay female Runner Five but pretty much left it at that. It was interesting writing a character that I couldn't give any dialog or even really a personality to. I hope I pulled it off. If you have read this and enjoyed it (or hated it) let me know.
> 
> On another note, I just want to say that one reason I love Zombies Run! so much is that five of the women I paired Runner Five with in this fic are canonically lesbian or bisexual. Zombies Run! is a running app and yet still manages to have more queer characters than any mainstream (not specifically queer) show or book I've ever encountered.


End file.
